Psychological Project
by EtherealDreamCloud
Summary: This is an AU story about our main hero Woody and his beloved Shelly who became random victims of "The Occultists", who both fell for their trap, sedated, and used for their purposes. Those purposes will not be understood by the reader, not until the end. Now everything depends on Woody's actions...
1. Greetings, mortal

**Author's note: Please read this before you start reading the story itself!**

 **I have to make myself clear first. So if you're a fan of the game "Neighbours from Hell" then you know it's about running a funny reality TV show with the same name and director Joe is on your side, right?**

 **Well, there's an unfinished fangame called "Neighbours in Hell: Hardcore" which is basically the exact opposite of the original game.**

 **It takes place in an alternate universe (or shortly AU) where there's no such show. Woody and Mr. Rottweiler aren't neighbours. Instead, Mr. Rottweiler is a crazed killer who's out of touch with reality, while Joe is the leader of occultists who's almost emotionless.**

 **This fanfic is going to be about this said fangame.**

 **You have been warned!**

* * *

Darkness...It did not lasted too long - he was waking up, but his vision was somewhat blurry for a moment. There was a moment of confusion when he finally woke up. He rubbed his eyes and groaned a little until the view was clear for him. The place is in a van of some sort, the last few minutes of his memory blanked out by his groggy state. However, he soon remembered not being here...this made him suddenly jump up from where he was laying.

"Where's **Shelly**?!" this was his first words after waking up.

Alas, she was not here. Which is why he decided to get up and find her so they can leave.

"Woodrow Trickster..." said someone in a black hooded robe "So you've finally come to your senses...Well, perhaps I should just call you **Woody**..."

This mysterious hooded person's voice was kind of monotonous and creepy, whilst his face was difficult to see because of the hood's shadow.

"How do you know my name?! My full name no less!" Woody was shocked "And where's Shelly?!"

"Is this yours?" the hooded one was holding Woody's ID card "It fell out of your backpack. You and your beloved slept in a taxi. I can assure you she's fine, and expects you to our humble little laboratory."

'I don't think I trust him...' he thought whilst glaring at him 'But I do hope she's okay.'

"Anyway, I'm Joseph Deen, but most of my colleagues call me **Joe**." he slide his hood down to reveal his face "I'm the leader of the organization called **The Occultists** "

"How original..." he mumbled sarcastically.

"And you..." Joe continued talking "...will become part of our psychological project." then he shows him a picture of an overweight bald man "Meet Roger Rottweiler."

"What?!" the young man was in complete disbelief "I did not agreed to take part of anything!"

"Well..." Joe smiled mockingly "Who said we're asking anyone's permission? You brainless imbecile..."

Woody would usually say a witty comeback for that insult, but right now the frustration gets the better of him.

"Besides...if you don't do whatever we say then that's fine for us...but then..." Joe paused for a moment then carried on talking, but in a very seemingly grim tone "...who knows what will happen to you and Shelly."

What did he meant by that? Whatever the case, what The Occultists want can not be that bad than what they are about to do if Woody outright refuses. Or at least, he thinks so...

"Alright..." the young man sighed heavily "Who exactly is Roger Rottweiler, and what am I supposed to do?"

"As I was saying, before you rudely interrupted me..." Joe carried on explaining.

Woody is supposed to sneak into Mr. Rottweiler's house and anger him as much as possible. It does not matter how, he may as well play a bunch of pranks on him.

'Pranks, huh?' Woody thought smiling 'I haven't done any in quite awhile, but I think I'm still good at them.'

"What's with the stupid grin?" the lead occultist questioned coldly "You know I'm not done..."

Joe then explains about Rottweiler being a psychotic deranged murderer who is out of touch with reality. Therefore, if he finds anyone in his house, he would not hesitate to shoot them and then play with them as if they are toys. On top of all that, his house is filled with neurotoxin. How is Rottweiler alive among that deadly poison? Is he immune to it? Possibly.

"...which is why you have a few minutes to enrage him. And last but not least, you're not allowed to leave until you're done with the trial. For today, the trial has four traps." and Joe does not appear to show any emotion while he was clearing things up - it does not disturb him one bit.

Woody on the other hand, felt like his stomach is turned upside down and a chill running up his spine. After hearing all this, he just wants to flee like a coward and forget about all this. Though no matter what, he has to listen to what he says...not only for his own survival but for Shelly's as well.

"I want to ask three questions before I go." the young man said "Does the police know about any of this?"

"Fortunately for us, no. In fact, our phones are hacked so that no one calls for any kind of emergency or anyone outside of our organization." then he rolled his eyes from annoyance "Your second question?"

"Can I see what his house looks like?" he should know this in order to get an idea what he will be dealing with "Maybe peek through a window or something?"

"Not this time...it has to be a surprise."

It's definitely going to be more than unpleasant. Joe already knows how it looks like, and for some reason he is going to enjoy Woody's reaction.

"Why are you doing all this?!" he has to know their goal of all the madness they have done.

"It's for..." the occultist went silent for a moment then responds by chanting in his dark tone "...生活生活生活."

That creepy chant of his made poor Woody felt tongue-tied. Even though they only just met, it was certain that Joe is almost as insane as the deranged murderer.

'I...I rather do this trial...than listen to his chants.' he thought nervously as he was opening the van's door.

Despite being forced to build traps for a psychopath (and "psychopath" is only softly expressed), he is a proud potential prankster and ready for the challenge. At least...that is what he tells himself as he is getting closer and closer to Rottweiler's house. Then finally as soon as Woody opened the door...he was "greeted" by the most horrific sight he has ever seen - the hall was splattered in crimson red, there were bits of body parts in various places, and it looks like as if someone was dragged across the floor while they were fighting for their life. He was also overwhelmed by the stench of blood and decaying corpses. The rotten air was mixed with the neurotoxin, which fills his organism so quickly he would be dead less than five minutes.

Knowing this, he started moving quickly to get the job done. If it was not for the deadly poison, the foul smell alone could kill him, just way more slower. The enthusiasm which Woody tried to build up faded away. He expected this kind of thing to see, but he never thought it would be so unspeakable. On top of that, Woody is not allowed to leave until he is done.

After opening the chest of drawers, he found a whoopee cushion. Next, the prankster ran to the bathroom and searched through the medicine cabinet only to find a super-glue.

'It should be enough...' Woody thought as he continues to the living room.

Rottweiler exactly then was closing the door behind him. He took his binoculars and looked through them to see out the window. After that, he started running back to the living room.

The prankster had just laid the whoopee cushion and twisted the antenna. Afterwards, he ran out of the room almost with the speed of a wild pig.

'That was close call...' he tried to breath heavily from all the tension and worry, but the breathing made his lungs hurt from the poison.

Woody hastened from the hall to the kitchen. If he was hanging around in the living room even for a second longer...he would be dicing with death. Not to mention that the situation itself is already very risky. He noticed that the fat psycho would not bother going downstairs which makes things easier for him.

When he entered the kitchen, he went to the fridge and opened it. It was empty, except that there was an rotten egg in there. Whilst the maniac was fixing the antenna and getting annoyed over the whoopee cushion, Woody glued the binoculars and put the whole egg in the microwave. The prankster had enough time to leave the room without stressing out too much.

'I'm done. All is left is for him to fall for the rest of the traps.' he thought 'I should keep an eye on him.'

Woody peeked through the keyhole of the kitchen door. When Rottweiler entered the kitchen, the prankster caught a glimpse of him - his eyes were empty and soulless, it was clear he did not have a single ounce of humanity. Yes, Joe did show a photo of him but he did not paid attention to it earlier.

The overweight lunatic got irritated over the messy microwave and a bit later he got his eyes stuck on the binoculars. Eventually, he freed himself from the sticky binoculars.

'That's all of them.' at that moment the young man wanted to sigh from relief, but refrained himself from doing it "Now what? Joe didn't tell me what he's going to do about the neurotoxin."

That is when he was running out of breath, Woody tried to hold back his coughing so he does not get caught while heading for the entrance door.

Sadly, it was still locked. Locked? But why? He was done with all four dirty tricks! When he was about to panic, the door made an unlocking sound. Woody was definitely allowed to leave the house for today and he suddenly felt much better. Some of the members of The Occultists were waiting for him in the same van as earlier, Joe was not with them this time.

"Where's Joe?" he asked them.

"He's very busy right now, but he took his time to activate the vaccine against the poison from a distance." one of them replied.

"After all, you did prove both of your existences are somewhat worthy...for now." said another member.

"Vaccine? He didn't told me about that!" he was surprised. That bit of information is important!

"Yes, he did!" the member raised his tone "It's your own fault for not listening, you twit! And besides, he's not going to repeat himself twice."

'Yeah...And I'm going to repeat your trials thrice, even when I fail.' Woody thought sarcastically 'Oh, wait...I can't, because I'd be dead!'

Was it really his fault for not paying attention? He was sure he listened carefully and there was no mention of a vaccine.

'Well, then again...maybe I shouldn't have been so prideful. Especially, in a situation like this...' he considered his own mistake.

"Anyway, he's waiting back at the laboratory." said another one of them.

Woody and Shelly lived to see another day. It is not the end though...it is only the very beginning.


	2. Your way out of the TV screen

**Author's note: Finally, I've got some motivation after I played "Corpse Party: Book of Shadows" for the first time. Because of that, my brain nagged me to continue this for at least for a bit. Yeah, "Neighbours in Hell: Hardcore" is somewhat similar to the Corpse Party series, so it's to be expected.**

* * *

It was a long night for Woody being locked up in a dimly lit small room. There was no odour of any kind. There were lights, but like the stars in a night sky they do little to lift the blackness. And he had to lie there... all alone. He was trying to fall asleep, but there was this unusual pressure his head that feels uncomfortable. He often switched sleeping positions, but the pressure still remains. The bed itself seems so cheap, it is as if it was made out of stone when in reality it was not. It did not help that he was wide awake, mulling over his girlfriend Shelly - who knows what the Occultists are doing to her now, they are not even mentioning about it. Would that be on purpose perhaps? He was also afraid going back to that... house. From there, he might soon get discovered by the psychopath Rottweiler or get choked by the house's poisonous air alone. Either way, he would meet perhaps the most meaningless end - never to be heard or seen again... That definitely terrifies him to the point of shedding a tear. At the same time, he was also hoping he would succeed to end the hellish nightmare.

The next day, Woody is being brought to the laboratory's office since Joe already wanted to talk to him.

'I don't know why, but for some reason I get a feeling about this.' thought the young man.

That assumption was correct. Because Joe, without even turning around to look at him, already started lecturing him with these words:

"Your tricks are pathetic and unthinkable, Woody." without even a single "hello" or anything of the sort. Simply straight to the point "The whoopee cushion trick...is your creativity limited?"

Woody held his head low while trying to think of a good response to that.

"I want to remind you," after finally turning around and letting out a sigh, the hooded man continued "that it's a serious customized project from the top of our organization. Your existence and Shelly's life depend on your intelligence, agility, and angering the wanted maniac Rottweiler."

'Hold on... didn't he insulted me yesterday?'

Then the hooded man was silent for a whole uneasy minute. Well... more uneasy for Woody.

"I want to ask something."

"Go ahead..."

"Is Shelly alright?" he asked him "I mean if you can't let me see her, then please at least tell me!"

"An hour ago," Joe started answering his question "she had to be stabbed for her chattiness..." there was even a noticeable smirk on his almost expressionless face.

"What... did... you... **say?!"** wide-eyed and in disbelief, he was already on the verge of wrath.

"You heard me." he replied to him "She was getting... maybe a little too annoying especially with her pointless 'Where's he? Where's Woody?' nonsense."

He himself angrily gritted his teeth, and as a prankster was even considering doing something very despicable to him. Until he remembered that there was a security camera in the room and another for each room. So even if Woody did not wanted to, he resisted any anger-induced urge in him.

" **Be prepared for work and carry on with the task..."** Joe said this while he was giving a seemingly deadly glare at him.

Truly frightened, the young man did what he told him to without hesitation.

* * *

Sometime later, Woody was about to face the same dreadful grim place for the second time - he attempted to stay calm, brave and at the same time swallow his pride. However, he could not help but tremble and thinking to himself it is all a long nightmare while slowly stepping closer towards the entrance. When he finally did, once again he was met with the indescribable mixture of neurotoxin and visceral decay in the air, and with the overly unpleasant sight. Woody trough the keyhole, and he already noticed that the psychopath Rottweiler is only walking back and forth for a bottle of beer... or at least the poor young soul thinks it is beer in it, but he could not be absolutely sure, because he knows that there is such a thing as red beer.

Then he considered he would be still safe in the hall, so he collected the saw from the chest of drawers. He dashed as fast as possible to the bathroom to search through the medicine cabinet, in which he found some laxatives, he also grabbed the toilet paper while he was at it.

Woody was about to go into the kitchen, but he stopped himself when he heard some footsteps getting louder and louder. Out of complete paranoia, he hid in the wardrobe. That is completely understandable - anyone would have done that in a situation like this. Then he went back in front of the kitchen door and made sure it was safe. He used the laxatives on the red... beer?

Afterwards, he grabbed the rotten egg from the small fridge thinking:

'I probably should save this for a bit later'

He went to the bathroom and blocked up the toilet's drain. Meanwhile, the maniac got his beer, Woody returned to the kitchen to use the egg. When Rottweiler drank the laxative beer he made a run to the bathroom while looking really annoyed.

'That'll keep you in there for quite awhile, you demon from Hell!' Woody thought as he was setting foot into the living room 'I can't directly ruin you, but I can do **this!** '

He sabotaged his sofa by sawing all of its wooden legs, he did the same with the television's antenna. After exiting the room, the young man yet again hid in the wardrobe. Meantime, Rottweiler was done with the toilet and went back to the kitchen to get yet another beer... despite every other bottle of it being laxative. Well, even insane people can be stupid and oblivious sometimes. As soon as the overweight madman entered the living room, he got angry over the television antenna being ruined, but he fixed it regardless. When the madman sat down on his sofa, he immediately tumbled over.

"I know someone is in my house. Once I find whoever it is, I'll play with their insides!" he said these words with an emotion which was a strange mix of anger and light-heartedness.

Woody heard his words, which made him feel like as if his stomach turned upside down. However, he also felt slightly more relieved when he heard an unlocking sound from the entrance door. It surely meant that he was done with the current trial. He exited the house and collapsed on the ground coughing violently. But after a few moments later, he suddenly felt better - it was Joe's deed.

* * *

Later, Woody was taken back only to get locked up in that one small dimly lit room. He is still alive indeed, but miserable. Especially since Shelly is gravely injured, which made him have serious doubts. At the same time, he mentally prayed that she will live. One of the reasons why he stays strong and listen to the merciless Occultists.


End file.
